


under a starlit sky

by anythingbutplatonic



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: AU, First Meeting, Lost souls meeting unexpectedly at a party, M/M, Robert is the black sheep of the Sugden family, Robron Week 2020, and self-deprecating jokes, discussions of child abuse, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24145966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anythingbutplatonic/pseuds/anythingbutplatonic
Summary: Robron Week 2020Day 1: First meeting/meet-cute“Need to put a name to perfection? Allow me to introduce myself.”Aaron needs some space at his little cousin's party and he bumps into someone else looking for respite from family issues.
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51





	under a starlit sky

The noise and raucous voices of his celebrating family were starting to get to him, so Aaron swiped his pint from the table and slipped outside into the beer garden round the back of the pub, the cold fresh air hitting his face and immediately cooling his flushed cheeks. His jacket was open and he relished the feel of the breeze hitting him, a welcome change from the cloying warmth of the pub packed with so many people. It was late, and surely one of his many relatives would figure out that it was time for Sarah to go to bed at last; but the way she’d looked sandwiched between Debbie and Andy, pink-cheeked and happy in a brand-new silver jacket and pink boots, clutching her new Nintendo to her chest, was too good to spoil her fun just yet.

It had been a tough year. If she wanted to stay up as late as everyone else on her birthday, so be it.

He sank down at one of the picnic tables, relishing the opportunity to drink his pint in peace and look up at the gem-like stars studding the inky black sky above the village, the noise from the pub a low hum in the background. It was quiet, and still when the breeze wasn’t scudding leaves across the road in short gusts. It was nice out here, tranquil, and something about the black of the sky and the twinkle of the stars and the cold, crisp air without a soul around calmed him. The condensation from his pint was cold on the tips of his fingers and he absently drew lines and shapes in the fogged glass, one a smiley face, one a large cross, one a star like the ones above him. 

Suddenly his vision was blocked by a tall shadow obscuring the moonlight, throwing his immediate surroundings into darkness.

“Need to put a name to perfection? Allow me to introduce myself,” the shadow spoke in a deep voice, with the rough edges of a Northern accent smoothed out into a posh twang, and more than a hint of smugness.

Aaron looked up. Stared. Blinked a couple of times. Above him was fair hair, high cheekbones, a sharp jawline and startling blue-green eyes that made his throat suddenly go _quite_ dry.

Then he scowled. “ _Wow_ ,” he deadpanned, deliberately drawing out the sounds of the _w_ and the _o_. “That’s a terrible line, mate. You need help. Or a therapist.”

“So you’re not at least a little bit intrigued about the stranger who suddenly decided to appear in front of you and have a bit of harmless flirting?” the man asked, hands on his hips, head cocked slightly to one side, like an inquisitive puppy. 

Aaron observed broad shoulders in a black leather jacket, a narrow waist, tight-fitting jeans that looked more expensive than Aaron’s entire wardrobe, and a whiff of cologne that made his mouth water despite having an almost-full pint in front of him.

“How do you even know I swing that way?” Aaron asked, splaying his hands wide. “I could have come out here to escape my _incredibly_ clingy girlfriend.”

The man snorted, bit his bottom lip then licked it to take away the sting. “I know you don’t. I actually know a bit about you, from my sister. Victoria?”

Aaron was surprised at that. Vic was one of his oldest friends, they’d grown up together, and yet she’d never mentioned having another brother. 

“Vic never said she had another brother,” Aaron said, “it was always just Andy.”

“Yeah, well,” the man said, scratching at his head and swaying slightly on the spot, then shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m not exactly the favourite round here.” He pulled one hand out and thrust it in Aaron’s direction. “Robert. Family disappointment and perpetual Sugden shame.”

“Aaron,” Aaron said, grasping the man’s - Robert’s - hand and shaking it firmly. His skin was warm despite the cold and he noticed the smattering of freckles across the back of his hand, tiny but still perceptible if you really looked. _But wait, why was he even looking that closely?_ “I’m the one that’s messed up beyond repair and will break into pieces if anyone so much as looks at me the wrong way.”

“Vic told me you’d had some problems,” Robert confessed, his voice softening. “I’m sorry about that.”

Aaron shrugged. “It’s done now, innit? I’m in a much better place now, or whatever.” 

Robert smiled. _God, his teeth were really white_. _Who has teeth that look that good?_ “Whatever?”

“Shut up, you know what I mean,” Aaron replied gruffly, “that soppy stuff my counsellor says. It works, though.”

“Look, er - it’s a bit mad in there, and I don’t want to spoil Sarah’s fun with her parents so - d’you mind if I sit?” Robert indicated the empty bench opposite Aaron. 

“Yeah, sure,” Aaron said. He really didn’t mind. Usually, he would, but there was something about Robert - maybe it was the bitterness in the way he’d said f _amily disappointment_ , the sincerity when he’d apologized for Aaron’s suffering, or just those startling eyes and pink lips that made him think this bloke was alright. That they had something in common.

Robert swung his long legs over the bench, resting his elbows on the table. Up close, his features were even more striking. Aaron wouldn’t usually describe a man as _beautiful_ , but it fit Robert to a T. He looked nothing like Vic, who had dark hair and big, doe-like eyes. And he was Andy’s complete opposite, lanky the way his brother was broad, pale where Andy was weather-beaten and tanned from working outdoors all the time. 

Maybe that was why he didn’t fit in with the rest of his family. 

“Sarah looked like she was having fun,” Robert remarked after a few moments of silence. 

Aaron nodded. “She’s a lucky girl. Some might say too lucky, but she has all of us to look after her, so it’s not too bad, I s’pose.”

“I wish I could have a proper relationship with her,” Robert said, “Jack, too. They’re my niece and nephew, I’ve never even met them properly and - well, I had to pretend Sarah’s present was from Vic instead of me or Andy might not have given it to her.”

“Is your family really that bad?” Aaron asked quietly. Something squirmed in his gut, a recognition, something familiar that ached for attention and acknowledgement. 

_Here,_ it said, _here is someone who understands_.

“Dad was a piece of work. Treated me like I was nothin’ for most of my life, especially after he found out I was a _queer_ ,” his voice turned into a sneer on the last word, resentment and anger filling every letter. “I was fifteen, just figuring out that I was bisexual, and he shut me up about it permanently by kicking the living daylights out of me. He told school I was off sick with a bug, but really I couldn’t get out of bed because of the bruises.”

Aaron almost knocked over his pint in shock; his mouth gaped open, words stuck in his throat because there were no words that were suitable. 

“Why am I even telling you all this?” Robert laughed suddenly, rubbing a hand across his face. “Here I am, a perfect stranger, interrupting you having a quiet drink and telling you all about how my father abused me until he threw me out at nineteen and told me to never come back. I must be mental.”

“Nah, I don’t think you are, mate,” Aaron said. “Terrible pick-up lines, no question about that, but the other stuff?” His voice lowered slightly, wavering. “I get that. I’ve wanted someone to _get_ it for so long, y’know, family stuff, having…issues, and - well, I guess it’s kind of lucky you came out here and started flirtin’ with me.”

“Do you want a fresh drink?” Robert asked, pointing to Aaron’s pint, which was now half-empty, though he couldn’t remember having drank any of it. “I need a whiskey.”

Aaron thought for a moment. The party would be going on for a while still; it’d be a long time before the festivities started to disperse. They had time. 

“Yeah,” Aaron said, digging in his jacket pocket for a scrunched-up fiver, “yeah, go on then.”

“No need,” Robert said, covering Aaron’s hand with his own when he tried to give him the money. “I told you my sob story. This round’s on me, yeah?”

Aaron couldn’t remember the last time a man had bought him a drink. It made him feel warm, and wanted.

Robert’s hand was still on his own. He drew his fingers away reluctantly, Aaron’s hand curling inwards instinctively as if to preserve the warmth and feel of his skin, the feel of what it was like to have someone be intimate that way with you. He’d missed it. 

Aaron smiled, a genuine smile that made his cheeks ache from the unfamiliarity of the action. Robert winked, and something in Aaron’s chest went _boom, boom, boom_ like a drum.

It was his heart, but also more than his heart. 

As Robert walked back into the pub, shoes crunching on gravel, he realized what it was that he hadn’t felt for a very, very long time.

It was hope.


End file.
